I appreciate everyone's interpretation here. I listened to this song for the first time about a year ago, and have listened to it many times since then. I can't describe the "beautiful yet haunting" feeling I got when I heard it the first time and immediately grabbed my guitar to strum along and played it a few more times to let the feeling sink in. The tune feels very old-world Irish or Scottish but I'm no expert there.
My own thought is that perhaps MK is simply portraying the feelings going through the mind of a seaman following an accident where a weaker seaman drowns. I don't think it was a love or woman who "leaves" since the narrator references them both as men (living and cold). I don't think the weaker, unlucky seaman was murdered - "Ah, but you did slip" emphasis on "Ah" which shows regret. The stronger seaman tried to help and regrets the loss, but is mentally trying to move on at the time the song is written/voiced by the character within the song.
He is recalling the tragedy, where he tried to help, but at the same time trying to distance himself so as to not carry the blame - by voicing the primary reason reason that the one who drowned slipped and was never "a steady bold one".
I would imagine any seaman who went through this experience would want to get home - to his loved ones - to heal and put the bad experience behind him. He is genuinely thankful ("Lord") for the breeze so he and the crew can return home quicker. Repeating the line "I'm a living man and you're a cold one" is probably his way of distancing himself within from the incident as well. Kind of like, "this is just the way it is now...you drowned, but I didn't". I think this keeps the blame very neutralized and reiterates that it was a simple yet unfortunate accident at sea.
I appreciate everyone's interpretation here. I listened to this song for the first time about a year ago, and have listened to it many times since then. I can't describe the "beautiful yet haunting" feeling I got when I heard it the first time and immediately grabbed my guitar to strum along and played it a few more times to let the feeling sink in. The tune feels very old-world Irish or Scottish but I'm no expert there.
My own thought is that perhaps MK is simply portraying the feelings going through the mind of a seaman following an accident where a weaker seaman drowns. I don't think it was a love or woman who "leaves" since the narrator references them both as men (living and cold). I don't think the weaker, unlucky seaman was murdered - "Ah, but you did slip" emphasis on "Ah" which shows regret. The stronger seaman tried to help and regrets the loss, but is mentally trying to move on at the time the song is written/voiced by the character within the song.
He is recalling the tragedy, where he tried to help, but at the same time trying to distance himself so as to not carry the blame - by voicing the primary reason reason that the one who drowned slipped and was never "a steady bold one".
I would imagine any seaman who went through this experience would want to get home - to his loved ones - to heal and put the bad experience behind him. He is genuinely thankful ("Lord") for the breeze so he and the crew can return home quicker. Repeating the line "I'm a living man and you're a cold one" is probably his way of distancing himself within from the incident as well. Kind of like, "this is just the way it is now...you drowned, but I didn't". I think this keeps the blame very neutralized and reiterates that it was a simple yet unfortunate accident at sea.
Cheers...